MC Logo

Search Results


This is an excerpt from Du fait de cuisine
(France, 1420 - Elizabeth Cook, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website

65. And to give understanding to him who will make the restorative let him arrange that he has a fair and large double flask of glass, as strong as can be found, and then let him wash and rinse it very well and carefully; and, being well washed, let him set it on a wooden trencher or little board and have it held on this strongly by cords and ties. And then let him arrange that he has a large well-fattened capon or two according to the quantity which he wants to make of the restorative and let him pluck, clean, and wash it very well and then drain the water off it very well; and, being well drained, chop it very fine, the meat and the bones also all together, then put it into the said flask, and three ounces or so of good rosewater and also as much of fair fresh water and a little bit of salt, and an ounce or more of fine pearls which should be put in a very little bag made of fair and clean cloth of strong silk or linen, and also very good, virtuous, valiant and worthy precious stones, that is diamonds, pearls, rubies, sapphires, turquoises, emeralds, coral, amber, jasper, jacinth, chalcedonies(?), onyx, crystal, chalcedonies, smaragdus [emerald? malachite?], sardonyx, sard, chrysolites [peridot?], beryls, topazes, chrysoprase, and amethysts, and all other good and virtuous precious stones - of all these only those ordered by the doctor; and let them be put together in another little bag made of white and clean linen cloth, and strong enough that it will never break so that the stones cannot mix with the said capon meat; and also with sixty or eighty or more pieces of fine gold, ducats and jewels and other pieces which should first be very well washed in three or four changes of lukewarm water, and very well dried off with the corner of a very fair, white, and clean linen cloth, and then each of the gold coins should be folded into a cylinder(?) so that they can fit through the neck of the aforesaid flask; and put them in carefully and gently and so that they fall into the capon meat so that they do not break the said flask, and then stop it very well so that no steam comes out. And, this being done, arrange that there is a clear, fair, and clean pot large enough that the said flask can easily be put into it, and let the neck of the said flask be tied to two sticks, and let the said sticks be tied to the said pot so that when the water in the said pot boils the waves and boiling of the said water cannot make the said flask move, shake, or be thrown out of the pot; and then fill the said pot with fair fresh water and then put it on a fair fire of coals and let it cook continually; and also arrange that next to it there is another pot full of fair water and let it be boiling constantly so that as the pot in which is the said flask boils it can always be refilled with the said boiling water, because one who put fresh water in would break the flask, and all the work of what is being made would be lost. And when the said restorative is well cooked let him arrange that he has a small piece of good board and let him heat it very well close to the fire, and when it is sufficiently dried and heated he should also have a little cloth and heat it well also, and then put it folded several times on the said hot board; and then gently take the flask out of the pot in which it is and set it onto the said hot cloth and board and let it cool there until he can hold it comfortably without burning himself. And when it is thus sufficiently cooled let him arrange that he has a good, new, fair, and clean strainer which has never been used before and let him put it over a fair gold dish and empty onto it his restorative which is in the said flask; and if one does not want to empty it quickly let him arrange that he has a fair and clean little wooden hook and stick it into the said flask and draw out what is inside; and when everything is out let him take his little bags of pearls and precious stones and the aforesaid gold pieces, and then squeeze and twist what is left strongly and properly in the said strainer; and, being very well strained and caught in the said gold dish, let him empty it again into a gold pan and then carry it to the sick person who should receive it and use it according to the doctor's orders.

autodoc